


Eruption's Reverb

by JessWasTaken (JessWrites218)



Series: Button-Nosed Boy, Where'd You Go? [2]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Dream Team - Fandom, DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF, mcyt
Genre: Angst, Dead Jschlatt, Dead Tubbo, Deffo Trauma, Don't bring romantic shipping with Tommy or Tubbo anywhere near my work, Festival Alt Ending, Gen, I stg, Major character death - Freeform, Sequel/Aftermath, Techno and Tommy Brotherly Relationship, Tommy can have a little trauma, as a treat, major character injury (past)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27148042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessWrites218/pseuds/JessWasTaken
Summary: Small victories from great tragedies mean nothing to the survivors. Those left with scars are left to pick up the pieces of what once was, but is healing really possible?[Basically Aftermath/Sequel to The Press of a Button!]
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: Button-Nosed Boy, Where'd You Go? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981642
Comments: 1
Kudos: 95
Collections: MCYT Stories





	1. An Eternity Lost Without You

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE make sure to read The Press of a Button before you read this so you get full context
> 
> Also this was meant to be all one thing but as I was writing it it ended up already over 1000 words before I was done so... More chapters coming soon?
> 
> Also: POV of Tommy then Techno, should be pretty obvi when it switches POV tho

It had been just a week, but every second felt like a century to Tommy.  
An eternity without his friend. It never took this long to respawn.

_He can’t be gone._  
No matter how much he knew it, his mind refused to give into the thought that Tubbo was actually gone. There was no way he had used up all his lives…. _Right?_

He had spent so many hours inside, thinking over every time Tubbo had died.  
_One… Two… Three… Four…_  
And yet, no matter how many times he counted, he couldn’t count the final number. He _had_ to be miscounting, he can’t actually be-...

He sat on the messy sheets of his bed, head in his hands, going over the numbers again.  
He hadn’t left the small house Niki had made him when he was allowed back into ‘Manburg.’ Well… that wasn’t true. He left to get his things the first day, and he left to check Pogtopia for Tubbo every afternoon, but besides that, he stayed inside. Staring at the walls, the ceiling, anything. 

He hadn’t unpacked his things from the temporary boxes he had brought them in. He could barely look at them.  
To look at them was to remember what happened _that_ day, the reason they were there…

His fingers gripped at his hair as tears threatened to fall, the images of the explosion replaying in his mind. The look of his friend when he found him, his body so badly damaged…  
He let out a shaking sob as his body collapsed, shoulders shaking as he sobbed into his knees.  
_Why? Why? Why?_  
It felt like an eternity, sitting there sobbing, until it broke down into pained hiccups, throat too raw to continue sobbing.

As the door opened, he could barely lift his head to look with bleary eyes at the form that had walked in, the familiar cape still dragging behind him.  
He watched silently, sans the hiccups that still wracked his body with every breath, as the man made his way over with a plate. The older man sat next to him, resting his free hand on the boy’s back as he cast a sympathetic look over him.

_God how he’d come to hate that look._

Just days ago he’d have found peace in the man’s care, maybe even leaned into it for some sort of… comfort? But, in his raw state he simply found himself scowling as anger bubbled into his throat.  
“What do you want, Technoblade?” He hissed quietly, raw throat making his voice crack slightly on his name. 

If he had noticed, Techno didn’t mention it, simply sighing and holding the plate out with a simple “Niki told me to bring you some food,” quickly adding once he saw his mouth begin to open to protest, “And she said to not let you argue either, you have to eat.”

The boy slightly squinted his eyes, trying to gauge whether he was lying for a moment before hesitantly reaching out and taking the plate.  
As he looked over the simple meal, steak and a baked potato, he felt --and heard, what the hell? How hungry was he?-- his stomach growl. He flicked his eyes towards Techno for a moment before quickly beginning to eat, using the moment to wipe the few remaining tears from his eyes.

He had finished in only a few minutes, looking over at Techno once he had finished to find the man simply looking around the room, hand still resting on his back and rubbing absentminded circles into the fabric.  
_Zoned out…_ Tommy thought, watching the man for a moment before nudging him and holding the plate out for him to take. He watched the focus come back into his eyes as he looked down, scooping the plate into his hands as he stood up.

“Do you need anything to drink, while I’m out there? Or anything else?” The older man said as he turned for the door, looking over his shoulder at him.

He shook his head, reaching over next to his bed and raising up a bottle of water with a little shake, “I’m fine.”

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, thinking before turning back to the boy. He reached over with his empty hand not holding the plate, ruffling his hair and placing a gentle kiss to the top of his head before heading directly out the door without another word, leaving Tommy still wheeling with confusion at what the hell just happened.

Techno left the room, closing the door with a sigh as he headed for the center of Manburg. He wasn’t exactly the best at giving others comfort, so he hoped that had at least helped a bit.  
Tommy was like a little brother to him, seeing him like this the past week had been rough.

Even when he was working to help rebuild Manburg with everyone else, his mind always found itself drifting back to what had happened. He could only imagine what that kid was going through, losing two of his friends in a single day.  
As he ran a hand through his hair, he found his mind drifting from the festival to him. 

_Wilbur._

He hadn’t seen the man since the festival, nor did anyone else seemingly. He had seemingly run off for his own form of isolation. His things had been moved out of Pogtopia, though Techno didn’t know if that was Wilbur himself doing it or someone else throwing his things out themself.

His eyes drifted back towards where the stage had been as he passed by, steps stuttering to a stop as he looked over the area. Not only had they destroyed this area, they destroyed a fair portion of Manburg, and most of the citizens lost a life as well.  
He was one of the few to have been near it that didn’t die in the explosion, though he had to nurse his leg for a few days, and down his fair portion of health potions to get back to full health. 

And there came that creeping thought…  
_Why him?_

He shook his head, and yet the thought persisted.  
_Why was he a survivor?_  
_After everything, seeing all the pain that was caused… could he have saved Tubbo? Given him his armor, got him out of the box, let him survive somehow?_

He let out a shaky breath as he pushed the thoughts down, gritting his teeth. He didn’t have time for regrets, not now at least. 

He looked ahead of him, taking one more deep breath to steady himself before continuing to walk forward. He still had to bring the plate back and help finish up the latest project of the country. He had work to do before he could dwell on the past.


	2. Self Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After such a grave mistake, can Wilbur really live with what he's done? Where does he go from here?

He had intended to do this, to run off after blowing Manburg to dust, but… Something in him was screaming.  
Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was simply being sore from walking for so long, and maybe it was simply the starvation he had begun dealing with.

Whichever it was, it frankly sucked.

He sat at the edge of the fire he had lit, a ring of stones keeping the flickering tongues from setting him or his items on fire. Watching the flames, he began to prepare a small meal from the bits of supplies he had left as his mind drifted.  
It drifted between different bubbles of thought, most he didn’t want to acknowledge, really. 

_What must Tubbo be thinking, after what he’d done?_  
_What happened to Manburg after what he did?_  
_How was Tommy?_

That final thought was one that had invaded his mind a lot the past few days. Ever since he had collected his things from Pogtopia and seen Tommy in his… current state, he had been worrying.  
He could only assume Tubbo hadn’t respawned then, though at this point he must have, after a week’s time.  
_Unless…_

He pushed the thought down and out of his mind as quickly as it came.  
There was no way he had run out of respawns, Tommy could’ve but Tubbo must have had at least a fair few left.

He let out a quiet sigh as he worked to cook the small piece of meat over the fire in front of him, slightly pulling the ratty, dirty trench coat tighter around his shoulders.  
_Of course this all had to happen in fall out of any season, really…_

As he finished up cooking his food and began eating, he looked to his side as a small chicken settled itself under his coat against his side.  
_Huh… friendly chicken._ He thought as he rested a hand on it’s back, turning his eyes back to look towards the setting sun. 

The rustling leaves around him were quite a good source of white noise for his mind to zone out on as he let his mind wander once more.  
_Peaceful…_

_Peaceful._  
The thought crossed Techno’s mind as he looked around, the sunset bathing the stretch of plains around them in orange and pink light. It was… pretty. Almost worth it.  
_Almost._

They had been traveling for quite a while, it almost made him think they weren’t on the right track, but Niki had assured him she was sure they were going the right way.  
He leaned against the neck of his horse, focusing in on the steady sound of hooves on dirt as they moved. It was so rhythmic, like a beat to a song.  
He could probably come up with lyrics to match if he really put his mind to it, with how long they’d been walking they probably had time to spare, really.

Something smooth and easy to follow that matched the simple beat, maybe mix in the rustling of the leaves to add some other ‘instruments’ into it.  
He could probably even add in the sound of that crackling fire to get quite the backing for-

_Wait, what?_

He blinked as his eyes quickly focused back in, whipping his head towards the sound. Off just a few yards, on the other side of a small hill…  
_Smoke._

He quickly forced his horse to a stop, turning his attention towards Niki as she began slowing along with him, shooting him a quizzical look.  
_Oh. She can’t hear it._ The thought crossed his mind as he began getting himself slid off the horse, quickly motioning to be quiet and pointing at the smoke.  
He watched her eyes widen as she hopped down and got a quick post stomped into the ground to tie their horses to.

As she worked to get the horses secured and in place, Techno rested his cloak on the back of his horse before beginning to make his way slowly over the small hill, keeping his head low.  
If Wilbur had well and truly lost his mind, it would no doubt be incredibly dangerous to face him head on, he had to be careful to keep himself concealed…

As Wilbur worked to finish the last bit of his small meal he turned his attention towards the small chicken in his coat, gently petting it’s head with his thumb.  
A light smile cracked over his face as it nestled further into his side, feathers fluffing up as it got comfortable. It seemed so friendly, so sweet, especially for such a delicate creature…

His smile faded slightly.  
_Like… Tubbo._  
He sighed quietly, closing his eyes.

 _It really was like Tubbo… And he had betrayed him, sacrificed him for his own craving for victory…_  
_He wouldn’t forgive himself if he was Tubbo._  
As that final thought crossed his mind, he flinched, eyes snapping open. _He… He wouldn’t forgive himself either…_ He clutched his fist slightly, looking back down at the chicken as he scowled.

_He really had fucked up, huh?_

He sighed, gently scooping up the chicken and shimmying his coat off, wrapping it up as he rose to his feet.  
_He had to go back and fix this, somehow…_  
He set the chicken down where he had once sat as he stretched, scooping up his bag. 

_He had to at least try._

Techno watched the man get up and grab his bag as he silently cursed himself.  
If he started moving, they’d have a much harder time catching him without getting back on the horses, which would waste even more time.  
Unless…

He quietly rose to his feet, narrowing his eyes at the older man.  
_He didn’t have time to waste._  
He dug his hooved foot into the ground for a moment before sprinting right for the man.

_Couldn’t get away if he didn’t have time to start moving, afterall._


End file.
